# Weird taste half way through new corncob.



## Palomorado (Apr 20, 2011)

Pardon the newb query:
I picked up a new Missouri Meersham corncob and have smoked 3 bowls from it. Each time they start off great then about half way down i get a burnt plastic type taste. Is this just part of the break in? They always start great then just turn.

Please advise!


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

It's probably the stem sticking in the bowl burning. This is usually a burning wood flavor vs burning plastic. But I'd say that's about right given your description. It should stop after a few more bowls.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

You took out the filter, right? Could be catching fire and burning the stem.


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

shannensmall said:


> It's probably the stem sticking in the bowl burning. This is usually a burning wood flavor vs burning plastic. But I'd say that's about right given your description. It should stop after a few more bowls.


+1



Jack Straw said:


> You took out the filter, right?


and +1


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## UncleFester (Jan 5, 2011)

I now am the proud owner of 3 cobs all bought within the last 2 weeks; 2 Gentleman and 1 original - all 3 with the bent stems. All have smoked beautifully from bowl one, but I took out the filters before smoking. That should do the trick!!


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## Palomorado (Apr 20, 2011)

I took the filter out before the first bowl. 
Hopefully it will go away soon!!!

I will keep smoking and report soon!


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## User Name (Feb 11, 2011)

I've smoked my cobs plenty, and to me the taste of the shank burning (when the fire actually hits the wood) never goes away, but it does get weaker. I see this as a plus, a change in flavor indicates that my smoke is finished. The shank stays intact, and no worry about burnout at the bottom.


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## pffintuff (Apr 20, 2011)

I get a "corn" taste till it cakes up.
That might be the problem.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

pffintuff said:


> I get a "corn" taste till it cakes up.
> That might be the problem.


I think it's a turpentine, pine taste from the stem. The cob itself is coated with some sort of plaster. Anyhow, it pretty much goes away, and like User Name noted, it merely signals the end of the bowl.


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## Palomorado (Apr 20, 2011)

I've been stopping once I get the taste...good to know it's not just me!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Palomorado said:


> I've been stopping once I get the taste...good to know it's not just me!


I think it's probably the way to break in a cob. Figure that at first, it will merely start charring that stem and tasting like turpentine early, higher in the bowl than after it seasons. As the charring gets deeper, the last of the turpentine/sap boils out and a layer of char on the stem protects it. Each succession bowl can get nearer the stem without actually setting it on fire. When it starts tasting off, that's the end of it, and I'm guessing you might damage the stem if you kept going. I think it's one of the reasons cobs are so successful for so many smokers. The big problem with briars is that they require some tricks to burn them down completely, not to speak of tobacco wetness, burning characteristics, packing problems...lots of pipers dump a wet dottle on a regular basis. Cobs have no such problems.

I've also seen the advice offered by cob veterans to never put anything made of metal in the bowl, like a metal pipe tool, and never touch that stem from the top. I've heard them recommend that you never do more than gently knock out what you can on your palm. I sometime use a golf tee on the walls, but I clean the bottom through the stem with a pipe cleaner. Just running a pipe cleaner through dislodges stuff in that little groove and it then knocks out easily. I just take their word for it, being something of a cob newbie myself.


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

Mark Twain and Cobs:

Noticing that his pipe was very-aged and black, and knowing that he was about to enter a country where corn-cob pipes are not, I asked him if he had brought a supply of pipes with him. "Oh, no," he answered, "I never smoke a new corn-cob pipe. A new pipe irritates the throat. No corn-cob pipe is fit for anything until it has been used at least a fortnight." "How do you manage then?" I asked. "Do you follow the example of the man with the tight boots;--wear them a couple of weeks before they can be put on?"


"No," said Mark Twain, "I always hire a cheap man--a man who doesn't amount to much, anyhow--who would be as well--or better--dead, and let him break in the pipe for me. I get him to smoke the pipe for a couple of weeks, then put in a new stem, and continue operations as long as the pipe holds together."


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I don't hold with his notion, but it's an interesting idea. I like how he carried his cob though:


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I was much impressed by the ingenuity with which Mark Twain fills his corn-cob pipe. The humorist is an inspired Idler. He is a lazy man, and likes to do things with the least trouble to himself. He smokes a granulated tobacco which he keeps in a long check bag made of silk and rubber. When he has finished smoking, he knocks the residue from the bowl of the pipe, takes out the stem, places it in his vest pocket, like a pencil or a stylographic pen, and throws the bowl into the bag containing the granulated tobacco. When he wishes to smoke again (this is usually five minutes later) he fishes out the bowl, which is now filled with tobacco, inserts the stern, and strikes a light.


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## Zfog (Oct 16, 2010)

drastic_quench said:


> Mark Twain and Cobs:
> 
> Noticing that his pipe was very-aged and black, and knowing that he was about to enter a country where corn-cob pipes are not, I asked him if he had brought a supply of pipes with him. "Oh, no," he answered, "I never smoke a new corn-cob pipe. A new pipe irritates the throat. No corn-cob pipe is fit for anything until it has been used at least a fortnight." "How do you manage then?" I asked. "Do you follow the example of the man with the tight boots;--wear them a couple of weeks before they can be put on?"
> 
> ...


Fun read DQ, very fun and interesting!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

drastic_quench said:


> Mark Twain and Cobs:
> 
> -------
> The humorist is an inspired Idler. He is a lazy man, and likes to do things with the least trouble to himself.


:biglaugh: My kinda guy!!

I think that's Kipling's write-up, isn't it? Not sure...


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## UncleFester (Jan 5, 2011)

drastic_quench said:


> Mark Twain and Cobs:
> 
> Noticing that his pipe was very-aged and black, and knowing that he was about to enter a country where corn-cob pipes are not, I asked him if he had brought a supply of pipes with him. "Oh, no," he answered, "I never smoke a new corn-cob pipe. A new pipe irritates the throat. No corn-cob pipe is fit for anything until it has been used at least a fortnight." "How do you manage then?" I asked. "Do you follow the example of the man with the tight boots;--wear them a couple of weeks before they can be put on?"
> 
> ...


MY HERO!!!!


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

freestoke said:


> :biglaugh: My kinda guy!!
> 
> I think that's Kipling's write-up, isn't it? Not sure...


I think so, but I can't be sure. It wasn't clearly attributed were I found it.


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## pffintuff (Apr 20, 2011)

Now I gotta "hire a cheap man--a man who doesn't amount to much, anyhow--who would be as well--or better--dead, and let him break in the pipe for me."

How much you think this is gonna run ?


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## BrewShooter (Mar 17, 2011)

pffintuff said:


> Now I gotta "hire a cheap man--a man who doesn't amount to much, anyhow--who would be as well--or better--dead, and let him break in the pipe for me."
> 
> How much you think this is gonna run ?


While the man himself is "cheap" this is actually quite an expensive service.


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## Zfog (Oct 16, 2010)

I think I know guy! :laugh:


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## Palomorado (Apr 20, 2011)

The more I learn about Twain the more I admire him!!!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

drastic_quench said:


> I think so, but I can't be sure. It wasn't clearly attributed were I found it.


Found the Kipling interview, but it doesn't seem to contain your quotes. As I searched for it, I discovered that it had appeared on Huffington Post last week with all mention of the corn cob pipes left out!! Somehow they left some of the cigar smoking in there, but a Goody Two Shoes had decided that knowing Twain smoked a cob was too indelicate a subject to share with the readers. :tape2: I didn't find the bit about breaking in a cob either place, though, nor the other part of your quote.

Anyhow, here's the Kipling intervihttp://www.loa.org/images/pdf/Kipling_Interview_Twain.pdfew:


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